Why I’m thankful for time

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. It’s hard to believe that in less than ten hours we’ll be in the air flying north to the homeland. Ohio is a beautiful place, full of family, memories, and buckeyes. We love our football team–they seem to always be good. And we miss our local pizza joint. It feels like we’ve been fasting for lent all year–fasting this awesome, thin crust, pepperoni infused perfection for months and months (but when we return home for the holidays we eat turkey!). I’m sure we’ll find the time to sneak a pizza or two in between meals. Honestly, I can’t wait to go home this year for all those reasons and for one more.

Kirra.

She was born eight months ago and has completely wrecked our life, in a good way. She has made our family visits rich with laughter and awe, wonder and excitement. I’m most looking forward to seeing her interaction with our niece and nephews. Kirra is petite and quite monster-ific, she likes a challenge and I’m guessing she will try to conquer them all with her sweet climbing skills. We haven’t been home for Thanksgiving in years and now it seems completely unthinkable to not be there this year.

So, I’m thankful for time–time purchased with money that many people in our world have none of. We have time with those we are far from because God has blessed us, even in this housing market that leaves our beautiful little home sitting for sale in Texas, God has blessed us. How many people can afford to travel? How many can even fathom driving outside of their county, let alone to another state or even country? I am overwhelmed with the idea how much we have and how much we think we don’t have. I’ve been wanting to join a little movement called the Advent Conspiracy. In short, it’s a movement of people who would like to do their best being less consumer and more compassionate this holiday season. I am going to try to do this. And, I would hope, it would spill over into the rest of the year where people don’t freeze in their hunger until next Thanksgiving. There are people in need every minute of every day and I pray we could be a generation that listens to the cries of the poor and doesn’t default to shutting the proverbial door to leave them crying in their cribs of poverty and pain.

A portion from The Cloud of Unknowinghas grabbed me and won’t let me go.

…be attentive to time and the way you spend it. Nothing is more precious. This is evident when you recall that in one tiny moment heaven may be gained or lost…God, the master of time, never gives the future. God gives only the present, moment by moment…time is for you…

I’m acutely aware this morning of the time that is available to me NOW. At my core, in the depths my created nature, God is asking me to pay attention to this moment, to be compassionate in the moment and not wait for another one.

We are blessed today. As Coy and I carry our daughter on our laps to Ohio to see our families–I’ll be thankful even for the journey, for a husband that sacrifices so much for me, for a daughter with eyes big enough to see the kingdom of God around her, I pray that we’ll bask in the seconds that pass and never let go of how love could speak in each moment through us.

(For those of you who are still wondering which pizza joint I am referring to and can’t get your mind off of hot crispy pizza…it’s Donatos :).